When the weather gets warm, and school lets out and people are just having too much fun in the sun, some local law enforcement officials say crime can be expected to follow suit.

"Summer gets here and there are different parties going on on the outside," Pope County Sheriff Aaron DuVall said.

DuVall said DWIs become a larger danger over the summer, due to lake parties and bonfires.

"Now that the Sheriff's Office has a couple of boats, we have some patrolmen who've been trained on those boats, we also have the auxiliary, who have been out on those boats and received training, so we're going to try to keep our presence known there as much as we can," DuVall said. "We want people to enjoy the lake and take advantage of it. There’s a lot of people who don’t have the opportunity of having a lake so close with the different activities you can do, but just like anything else, be safe with it.”

Russellville Police Department (RPD) Public Information Officer Drew Latch said while some criminal activity increases in the summer, the city doesn’t seen an increase in overall crime due to many students returning home.

“As far as parties, they seem to go down a little bit, if anything in the summer,” Latch said. “Whenever school’s out, you have a lot more people loitering at night.”

Latch said crime is heavier during weekends during the school year due to youth not being in school — a pattern that can sometimes be replicated during summer months.

“Whenever you have juveniles or people at all who are off during the summer, a lot of times it ends up encouraging them to get involved in things that they wouldn’t regularly because they have more time,” he said. “Whenever kids are out of school, parents are at work, so a lot of times kids make decisions that they wouldn’t have made if they had a teacher or parent around, so that can always promote higher crime.”

Latch said the biggest issues among youth regarding crime are related to alcohol use and breaking and entering. He advised drivers keep their valuables hidden in their car and their doors locked, as the department generally sees an increase in breaking and enterings into vehicles.

“If your car’s not unlocked, a lot of times they’re not going to break a window to get into anything,” he said. “But if you don’t lock your car and they’re walking by, it’s very simple for them to open that door, search your car and be gone within 30-45 seconds.”

While Latch said DWIs in the city don’t typically increase in the summertime due to a large portion of the college population returning home between spring and fall semesters, its not uncommon to find some who’ve spent time drinking while fishing or swimming, and then drive.

“They get out on the lake, they fish, they drink all day and hop back into their car and drive away,” he said. “That’s not something they’re going to do when it’s 10 degrees outside."

DuVall said residential burglaries are a concern to the Pope County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) during the summer, due to families vacationing. He said anyone living in the county who knows they’ll be out of town and wish patrols to be increased in their residential area can call PCSO at 968-2558.

Anyone living in the city who wishes patrols to be increased in their neighborhood call call RPD at 968-3232. Latch advised those who will be out of town to leave a light on in their residence and have a friend pick up their mail and occasionally move things around the house to give the appearance the residence is occupied.